October 6th: Hotel Chocolat Boo!

Kcal ??? Fat ??? Fat(sats) ??? Carbs ???

This week we are taking a break from the 'Purist Range' and are turning our focus on to some of the seasonal offerings of Hotel Chocolat. Firstly I feel that I have to inform you that if there was in fact a 'Halloween Scrooge' of this world, they would probably take the shape of myself. It's not that I hate Halloween, its just I purely don't understand it. Not once in my twenty one years on this planet have I once thought of getting dressed up as a scary ghost/bat/vampire/Kerry Katona/Zombie and knocking on peoples doors for free chocolate/candy. Free samples from companies themselves ... well I can handle that - Hotel Chocolat were recently so kind as to send me these Halloween themed chocolates - 'A scary collection of horrific Halloween figures in ghoulishly good milk chocolate'.

These came in a 180g pack, in the form of sixteen individually wrapped chocolates in the shapes of skulls, bats, fingers, cats, tombstones and ghosts. There was no doubting that the chocolates looked impressive, the shapes were well crafted and each came with a plastic tray to help protect them inside the cardboard box. Despite being stored in plastic wrappers as opposed to foil ones, the chocolates still retained a remarkably appetising smell. The aroma was strong and forthcoming, and had strong dairy connotations, with even a sweet caramel like hint.

These individual chocolates were formed of the standard 40% House Milk chocolate. Their taste differed very little from the outstanding 40% slab - it had a delicous progressive, clean creamy taste that had a nicely balanced cocoa base flavour. The creamy flavours had a longing presence in the mouth, as expected this was milk chocolate in some of its finest form. The melt of the chocolate was excellent, though not without its issues. Due to the nature of some of the shapes it meant that some of the chocolates were irregular in the rate they melted. For instance the 'tombstones' and 'fiendish finger' shapes were both relatively thin in their thickness. As they were both too large to eat in just the one bite, it meant they had to be eaten in two not so substantial and flavoursome bites, this was just the smallest of annoyances. With the other shapes this was not so much of a problem, the chocolate melted superbly at a glorious rate into a smooth thick liquid. Despite their novelty look, these were some outstanding tasting chocolates. 

Overall despite these having scored particularly well and being absolutely fantastic in their taste, I'm struggling to come to terms with just one thing ... who are these meant for!? The back of pack suggests they are 'perfect for trick or treaters and sharing at Halloween parties' ... maybe this is my inner student talking, but are these amazingly high standard chocolates really the sort of thing you want to be handing out on mass to trick or treaters? ... or at a party? I am sure this is all but confirming me as the Halloween Scrooge, but I just couldn't bring myself to hand out such a high quality, great tasting product at such events - lets not kid ourselves, these are not the cheapest of products going. If unlike me you are going to be handing out chocolates this Halloween, and aren't petrified at the thought of sharing Hotel Chocolat chocolate willy nilly, then I can seriously recommend these. Just another instance of a great tasting, finely presented Hotel Chocolat product.

8.6 out of 10

 

October 5th: Fry's Peppermint Cream

Kcal 215 Fat 6.9g Carbs 36.3g

With both the 'Lindt Lindor Mint Truffles' and exceptional 'Lindt Excellence Mint Intense' having been reviewed in the last few weeks, this Fry's bar was always going to have a hard time - lets be honest they both set the mint chocolate combination standard pretty high. On request of Chocolate Mission reader Alan I today went about rounding off my reviews of the Fry's range, trying out the Fry's Peppermint Cream.

The bar came in a pretty sizeable 50g serving, one thing I personally think worth noting are the nutritional values which appear to be really quite low for a bar this size ... that's if your not looking at the carbs aka. sugar!! Personally I think the packaging is starting to look a little bit outdated and could really do with a bit of a spruce up - its not quite retro, nor is it contemporary ... a bit late 90s if you know what I mean. In my other Fry's reviews I have referred to the bar as being poorly sectioned, yet again this was true, they simply just didn't have a clean break off, and caused an annoying mess when splitting! The bar smelt nice enough - it had a nice undertone of cocoa and a strong peppermint smell!

I normally find the flavour of Fry's plain chocolate rather dull and lifeless - though I seemed to be able to pick up more of flavour with the less concentrated flavouring of the mint centre. It had a pleasant enough unsweetened cocoa flavour, the lack of sweetness from the chocolate actually counter balanced the fondant centre nicely - it was a good combination. The texture of the chocolate wasn't the smoothest in its melt; it did seem to clump slightly in places, though I was too busy enjoying the surprisingly chewy fondant centre to care all that much. The fondant centre provided an enjoyable minty taste, not quite as fresh or as flavoursome as the 'Lindt Excellence Mint Intense', but avoided the pitfall I was expecting to fall down - and wasn't too sugar intensive in its taste. The aftertaste was very mint rooted and left a favourable taste in the mouth; this wasn't the most filling of bars but it was a pretty satisfying one.

Overall out of the 'Frys Cream' bars this one was definitely my favourite. There is certainly improvement to be made in the chocolate quality and actual design of the bar though when considering the price in its comparison to the Lindt Excellence Mint Intensive this really isn't a bad choice. The chocolate and mint flavours are balanced nicely, and I think if your a fan of mint chocolate combinations this would definitely be a bar you would enjoy. The best of a pretty bad bunch!

7.0 out of 10

October 4th: Hershey's Kisses Cookies n' Creme / Dark / Vanilla Yogurt Creme / Almond

Recently I reviewed the Hershey's Milk Chocolate Kisses and commented that I was looking forward to trying some of the more adventurous flavour variants from the range. **I SHOP 4 YOU II** kindly set me across a huge array of different flavours ... a number of which I have been tucking into recently - here are my tasting notes and scores for some of them so far:

Hershey's Cookies n' Creme Kisses

Kcal 210 Fat 11.0g Fat(sats) 7.0g Carbs 25.0g (per 9 pieces)

Having already tried the original Hershey's Cookies n' Creme bar I thought I had a pretty good idea what to expect here. The wrapper colour and presentation was fair, the Kisses' had a nice speckled looked with the brown flecks of 'cookie' in bedded in the chocolate. The smell was pretty indicative of the taste, they smelt extremely sweet and artificial.

One of the things I enjoyed from the original bar were the Cookie pieces, unfortunately these were altered in these Kisses and were little more than crystallised sugar pieces ... add these to the already super sweet white chocolate and you can get a picture of how awfully sickly these were. They reminded me a lot of the cheap Hannah's Jazzles White ... never a good thing. Overall a pretty awful showing ... serving suggestion 9??? ... I think if you ate all them you would have no teeth left!

5.0 out of 10

Hershey's Dark Chocolate Kisses

Kcal 180 Fat 12.0g Fat(sats) 8.0g Carbs 25.0g (per 9 pieces)

Having never tasted any standard Hershey's dark chocolate before I wasn't knowing what to expect from these. The Kisses looked reasonably nice on the outside, the dark purple wrapper was a nice choice of colour.

The smell was quite heavily cocoa rooted, far deeper and forthcoming in comparison to others from the range. The taste was quite reserved, it was more an unsweetened version of the original milk chocolate Kisses rather than a heavily concentrated cocoa taste, still the taste was pleasant and longer than other alternatives. These were definitely far more fulfilling than the milk chocolate variant and lacked the yorgurty tangy aftertaste. Not groundbreaking chocolate but pretty enjoyable nonetheless and one of my favourites from the lot.

7.9 out of 10

Hershey's Vanilla Yogurt Creme Kisses

Kcal 210 Fat 13.0g Fat(sats) 8.0g Carbs 25.0g (per 9 pieces)

These looked an awfully similar proposition to the Hershey's New York Cheesecake Kisses I reviewed way back in March ... luckily these delivered on a grand scale in comparison. Despite a partially waxy, sticky outer coating the Kisses looked nice in their appearance, their wrappers were bright and shiny, the definition between the middle creme and outer chocolate looked very enticing.

Unlike the New York Cheesecake Kisses these smelt very appealing with a nice chocolaty smell, no apparent hint of the creme filling at this stage but a nice dairy scent. The melt was delicately soft in the mouth, they had an almost butter like texture that was very smooth. The milk chocolate coating was creamier than the standard Kisses and had a nice long milky taste. The creme filling delivered what it promised and had a pleasant subtle vanilla edged milky taste. For my liking they were a little on the sweet side, I definitely wouldn't eat anywhere near 9 at a time. As far as one off chocolates go they were pretty satisfying and unique in their flavour. The best of the bunch.

8.1 out of 10

Hershey's Milk Chocolate Almond Kisses
Kcal 210 Fat 14.0g Fat(sats) 7.0g Carbs 21.0g (per 9 pieces)

How do they get the nut in these Kisses!? Who knows!? I liked the gold wrappers of these, they look smart and with a fair sized almond piece placed in the middle of each - I had no qualms with their appearance.

They had a very familiar smell, very similar to the original milk chocolate Kisses, just with an extra added nutty element. The praise stops pretty much here for these; the milk chocolate was fair but unspectacular - identical to the standard Kisses with its yoghurty aftertaste. The almonds were of an unfortunate quality, lacking any real flavour and with a almost spongy texture. They didn't taste all that fresh and their lack of crunch only reaffirmed this conclusion. Disappointing execution of a pretty good idea.

6.6 out of 10

Overall a bit of an array of results from these Kisses, ranging from the dismal, to the pretty damn tasty. I would recommend avoiding the 'Cookies n Cream' and Almond variants, they simply just don't deliver. For a fair tasting less sweet version of the original milk chocolate Kisses the Dark Kisses are a good choice. If its a real flavour hit your after though, I would recommend the Vanilla Yogurt Creme Kisses ... very sweet but unique tasting. More Kisses reviews to come shortly!

*** EU & UK Readers Attention*** Ever been been browsing Chocolate Mission or any other Candy Site and felt frustrated not being able to get hold of an American bar/item!??? .... well feel frustrated no more!!! 'I SHOP 4 YOU II'!! is a great service that provides a unique "one stop shop" international shopping experience!!! Visit the Ebay shop - if they dont have the item you want instock simply give them a message - there is no harm in asking. This service comes with a Chocolate Mission Seal of Approval!! It is a genuinely great, fast and friendly service... Just say you came from Chocolate Mission.

October 3rd: Cadbury Bournville Deeply Dark

Kcal 535 Fat 39.3g Fat(sats) 24.0g Carbs 37.6g (per 100.0g)

A long time ago in a Waitrose far, far away .... I bought this Cadbury Bournville Deeply Dark bar, well ok it was my local Waitrose, but it was certainly quite a long time ago. After the poorness of the original Cadbury Bournville my motivation to really go out my way to try this bar was hardly sky high, and in truth it had been lieing around in my box of bars to review for a fair few months. Well finally after a nudge from dedicated reader Alan I got around to reviewing this 'Deeply Dark' Bournville variant - a bar that promised 'chocolate with caramelised cocoa nibs and coffee'.

The first thing I noticed about the bar was it's nice appearance; it combined a decorative paper wrapper with a tightly packed foil layer. Looking at the wrapper more closely further revealed a few home truths ... though branded as Bournville the product actually stated it contained 60% minimum cocoa solids (original Bournville contains 39% min!!), what more was that the wrapper also revealed the bar was manufactured in France ... no not Birmingham the 'home' of Bournville but France ... lol this just struck me that this bar wasn't Bournville at all ... merely another bar of chocolate using the Bournville brand!! Sneaky eh!?

Anyhow - the bar was nicely presented, the chocolate itself was sectioned perfectly into bitesze chunks, each with a neat Cadbury logo. The bar had a pleasant alluring smell which was strongly coffee weighted ... I could literally smell the beans yum!

This was an extremely rich bar that I enjoyed over a few days. Breaking off a few chunks of the 100g at a time provided a delightful chocolaty hit, this bar was extremely rich. Again this was yet another chocolate that was best enjoyed letting it melt on the tongue. Doing so allowed the cocoa nibs to really release their delicious flavours; unlike the original Bournville it had a full bodied dark taste, that had undertones of nutty, fruity flavours. It was certainly a far more full flavoured taste, but it still maintained a relative sweet milkiness in its aftertaste. The smooth melt and highly enjoyable taste of the dark chocolate was good ... but the best was still to come. Letting the chocolate melt away left small granules of coffee, which when crunched released the most delightful of coffee hits, it was a near perfect compliment to the dark chocolate and made for what was really a long, rich taste.

Overall this was a bar that surprised me on so many levels. I will freely admit that due to the sheer poorness of Cadbury Bournville, I really wasn't expecting much from this bar, but it really delivered a great tasting dark chocolate with a delicious coffee after kick. After the revelations of the wrapper - its clear this isn't actually a Cadbury Bournville bar, what it definitely is though is rather damn tasty one. If your a fan of coffee flavoured dark chocolate, this is a bar I seriously recommend you try - very good indeed.

8.4 out of 10

October 2nd: Reese's Milk Chocolate Big Cup with Nuts

Kcal 430 Fat 26.0g Fat(sats) 8.0g Carbs 41.0g (per 2 big cups)

This has been a product I have wanted to try for a very long time - the sheer thought behind it had me convinced this had to be a terrific idea ... a standard Reese's Peanut Butter Big Cup .... just with added extra nuts ... genius surely!?

The packet I was sent to sample by ***I Shop 4 You 2*** contained two...yes two Big Cups - weighing in at a mighty 79.0g. Each cup packed a whopping 13.0g (20% of an adults RDA) of Fat! To be honest this became less of a surprise when I sectioned one of the cups for the above photo ... it was literally crammed full of nuts. It didn't say on the pack how much of the total constituents was actual peanuts but I can tell you for a fact it would be well over 50%. The extreme nutty content looked fantastically appealing ... at last a product name living up to it's billing ... no skimping here whatsoever. You wont be surprised to hear that the product had a fantastic nutty aroma ... everything from the packaging, to the smell just highlighted the extreme nut content - genuinely fantastic.

The product had really bigged itself up in it's appearance and presentation, and it didn't let itself down. Thankfully the pretty bland tasting milk chocolate seemed to be lessly so portioned to normal. As you will see above it wasn't quite as thick as you would probably would have expected it to be. It was typical Reese's milk chocolate, a waxy melty texture with little more than a short sweet milky taste ... it was lucky really that the main focus was the absolute treat of a centre.

The middle filling consisted of a huge amount of peanut butter that had whole peanut pieces thrown into the mix. The peanut butter was the usual creamy, roasted, buttery goodness with that ever so important lick of salt. The additional peanuts further intensified the nutty flavour and also provided an interesting extra dimension to the texture ... they were wonderfully crunchy and actually fresh tasting. The additional peanut pieces further enhanced the aftertaste making it even longer and even more satisfying than ever. One of these at a time provided a more than fulfilling snack, kudos to anyone who could eat two at a time ... I just don't think it's even possible.

Overall this has to be one of my favourite Reese's products I have ever tried ... and as you will know I have tried my fair few. The peanut butter filling was its usual fantastic standard ... the additional peanuts just further added to the intensity of the nutty flavour, whilst adding a superb crunch to the texture. The only way I could see this product bettered would be with the implementation of either the milkier Reese's white chocolate or the fuller flavoured Reese's dark chocolate. A fantastic product that is a must try for peanut butter and chocolate fans - I cant recommend it enough.

8.9 out of 10

*** EU & UK Readers Attention*** Ever been been browsing Chocolate Mission or any other Candy Site and felt frustrated not being able to get hold of an American bar/item!??? .... well feel frustrated no more!!! 'I SHOP 4 YOU II'!! is a great service that provides a unique "one stop shop" international shopping experience!!! Visit the Ebay shop - if they dont have the item you want instock simply give them a message - there is no harm in asking. This service comes with a Chocolate Mission Seal of Approval!! It is a genuinely great, fast and friendly service... Just say you came from Chocolate Mission.

October 1st: Ferrero Rondnoir

Kcal 52.5 Fat 3.5g Fat(sats) 2.0g Carbs 5.0g (per chocolate)

No sooner had Dean-German-Grocery sent me a pack of these Ferrero Rondnoir all the way from Germany last week, I saw this trade article Terry posted on The Chocolate Review stating Ferrero's intent at bringing them to UK shores:

"Ferrero Rondnoir offers consumers a darkly sensual journey through crispy wafer and indulgent creaminess towards a pearl of dark chocolate at its heart."

Well it didn't take them long to start appearing in the UK shops - I saw them in both my local Tesco and Woolworths at the weekend ... the invasion is well and truly on, and let me tell you now what a treat they are.

Dean-German-Grocery sent me through a pack of twelve of these Rondnoir, each chocolate was an extremely rich experience that was both satisfying and fulfilling. Although I did on one occasion eat five in a row, they were equally as satisfying eating one or two at a time. When I reviewed the Ferrero Rocher I was distinctly impressed with the presentation of the product. Despite my slight reservation towards the crumbly outside layer (messy!!) I had similar feelings about the appearance of the Rondnoir. The boxed packaging was nicely presented and had a premium look, apart from the slight annoyance of the fragile coating the chocolates also looked exquisite and wonderfully crafted - thumbs up here. Opening the foil wrappers I was met with a pleasant dark cocoa smell, it wasn't the greatest or most distinct of chocolaty aromas but it was still very tempting.

One of the main features I loved about this product was the layering. The outer crumbly chocolate pieces and wafer provided a nice crispness against the softer inner smooth chocolate creme; right at the centre of the chocolate creme was a small, hard spherical chocolate piece. Together the different and varying textures made for an interesting and contrasting array of flavour intensities. The outer frosting and wafer layers provided a pleasant initial biscuity sweetness, whilst the middle creme gave a nice smooth slightly milky but unsweetened chocolaty taste. The real defining element of the taste came from the burst of extra cocoa flavour from the hard pearl sized centre - it just really topped off an extremely rich tasting chocolaty hit. As you can imagine the flavours left a long lasting impression in the mouth. Balanced, creamy and strong tasting ... what more could you ask for!?

Overall these are a fantastic product from Ferrero and are one that I highly recommend. They are perfect chocolates to both indulge in on mass, or separately for sharing occasions. Supposedly these are aimed at catering for the market who don't enjoy nuts i.e. won't buy Ferrero Rocher ... well not only do I recommend them to those people, but I also recommend them to Rocher fans aswell ... in my book they are even slightly superior. As you can tell I enjoyed these immensely, a superb, affordable chocolate offering.

8.9 out of 10

Fancy trying the Ferrero Rondnoir for yourself!? Fancy any another Ritter Sport / Milka / Lindt / Storck or German Grocery ... head over to Dean-German-Grocery!!

September 30th: Lion Bar White

Kcal 215 Fat 10.8g Carbs 26.5g

The Lion bar was one of my all time favourite bars as a kid, and after a successful review of the milk chocolate UK version, I was never going to be turning down the opportunity handed to me by Dean-German-Grocery to try this white chocolate version - a bar produced in Frankfurt Germany.

The first thing I noticed about this bar was the difference in size from the UK milk chocolate to this white chocolate version. This bar was a full 10g lighter at 45g - the difference was certainly noticeable and it simply wasn't a very fulfilling bar. It's smaller size meant it was slightly less impactful to look at, although the actual look of the bar with it's distinct layering was nicely presented and pleasing on the eye. The outer wrapper was standard Nestle plastic packaging, it looked ok aesthetically but it really struggled to maintain the freshness of the bar, the smell was really not forthcoming and the product only managed a minor sweet milky scent.

The smaller sizing of the bar seemed to not affect any one of the layers more so than any other, the down weighting was obviously proportional. The outer coating was still relatively thick and contained small rice crispies, which added nicely to the texture. The texture of the white chocolate wasn't bad - it had a nice constant melt, though there where mouthfuls were it did cloy and lump together. The white chocolate tastewise was largely disappointing, like the smell suggested it had a milky flavour, although this altogether was very minor and subtle ... sure it avoided being overly sweet like a lot of white chocolate, but it simply lacked flavour nearly entirely. The wafer had a nice wheaty taste that seemed noted with a slight twist of sweet coffee to its aftertaste. The middle white chocolate creme like the coating lacked flavour; conversely by far and away the most flavour impactful layer was the milk chocolate creme which had a lovely smooth texture and relatively strong chocolaty taste. Finally the caramel added a pleasant chewyness to each bite, however unfortunately was lacking in a definitive flavour. The aftertaste of the bar was heavily based around the wafer element as it lasted longest in the mouth, even this flavour didn't last that long though. The lack of strong flavours meant this bar wasn't the most satisfying of chocolates.

Overall as an eating experience this was a bar that really struggled to create an impression on me. The change up of chocolate from the original was not a favourable one; in comparison to the original milk chocolate, the white chocolate lacked flavour and depth. The caramel layer also suffered from lack of flavour, which was surprising due to this component being one of the real strengths of the original. The textures were still a real strength of the bar, the contrast in chewy, crunchy and creme layers was well executed - this alone though was not good enough to make this anything more than an average scoring bar. By no means an offensive product, just a little lacking in it's flavours and could have been done better.

7.3 out of 10

Fancy trying the Nestle White Lion Bar for yourself!? Fancy any another Ritter Sport / Milka / Lindt / Storck or German Grocery ... head over to Dean-German-Grocery!!

September 29th: Hotel Chocolat Organic Dark 100%

Kcal ??? Fat ??? Fat(sats) ??? Carbs ???

Today saw another Chocolate Mission first, this was my first ever review of a 100% cocoa bar - the Hotel Chocolat Organic Dark 100%. The bar was another from 'The Purist' range I have been sampling over the past few weeks, and was farmed at the Hacienda Lara Plantation, Ecuador. On pack the bar described itself as '100% cocoa and nothing else, but far more mellow than you would expect thanks to extra-long conching' ... what is Conching you ask!? Well refer HERE for the long explanation - in short it is the one of the final processes of chocolate production that involves using machinery to heat the chocolate so that the cocoa butter is evenly distributed, thus making the texture smoother ... you learn something new each day.

I will only fleetingly play tribute to the appearance of the bar - like the rest of 'The Purist' range it was spot on. The cardboard sleeve was full of interesting information on the farming and production of the bar, the foil packaging provided an outstanding freshness and the slab itself had a shiny, glossy appeal ... everything about it just radiated class. The smell of the slab was very indicative of the taste; it was very intense and had a strong cocoa aroma - there was no element of sweetness about it whatsoever. The boldness of the smell although expected was not the most enticing.

This was always going to be an experience slightly out the norm ... and that it was. Placing the first piece in my mouth I literally felt the moisture in my mouth just disappear. The texture felt chalky and dry, and the initial cocoa flavour was nothing more than I could describe as extremely bitter - my taste buds felt extremely overwhelmed. Despite my initial displeasure I did continue eating the slab, varying the size of the chunks I consumed. As I progressed eating the bar my taste buds became more at ease with the intensity of the flavours. The texture of the melt seemed to get smoother the more I ate, and the flavours more pronounced. After a few chunks the overwhelming burnt taste subsided, and I did start to appreciate the deep flavours of the bar more. The taste was extremely rich, the cocoa very pronounced with coffee and fruity notes ever present. The aftertaste as you can imagine was extremely long lasting in the mouth, I could taste the cocoa for a good deal after. Like the other variants from the range the bar came in a 75g serving, it took me days to finish; its intensity meant that it was best to only eat in very small servings.

Overall I found this bar extremely hard to rate. Appreciating this chocolate required a degree of dedication, if I had judged the bar on my first few mouthfalls I would have told you it was overly intense and repulsive ... well after getting used to the concentration of flavours my appreciation for the taste grew. The chocolate does indeed have a nice deep clean cocoa flavour with a number of spicy edgy notes in the formulation of its rich overall taste. The texture for me wasn't the best, initially it felt quite dry, however like the taste I did become more accustom to it over time. Personally I have much preferred the more straight forward offerings from Hotel Chocolat ... ones that instantly struck me as flavours I could appreciate like the 85% Dark, Caramellow and Praline White. If your after a really full flavoured chocolate this could be a bar that you could really enjoy, just beware this is one intense experience and certainly won't be everyones cup of tea.

7.6 out of 10

September 28th: Harry & David Moose Munch Milk Chocolate Bar

Kcal 300 Fat 21.0g Fat(sats) 13.0g Carbs 29.0g

Having never heard of the Harry and David brand, I had to consult Liz at **I Shop 4 You II** to get the low down on this bar. Well, according to Liz this Harry & David Moose Munch Milk Chocolate bar is currently her favourite, and is a pretty hard to find premium brand of chocolate. Looking at the wrapper revealed that this was a bar comprised of a 'smooth fudgy centre, fluffy white popcorn, buttery caramel and crisp nuts all dipped in sweet milk chocolate' ... wow that's a lot of stuff crammed into one bar.

As you can see above in the nutritional information this was one pretty mean bar! It weighed in at a largish 56.0g and contained 65% of the RDA of saturated fat... this was indeed a plentiful serving, anything larger would have pushed the boundaries of actual necessity. The packaging of the product was superb the bar came in a matted foil wrapper packed with an inner plastic tray for added protection. The bar itself wasn't the most spectacular looking of chocolates, though the cross section did provide an interesting look at all the added ingredients. For a bar that contained so many added elements the smell was pretty non-descript, I was expecting more than just the sweet dairy scent that I got from it.

Lets clear something up courtesy of my friend Wikipedia:

"Fudge" in the U.S. is usually understood to be chocolate. In fact, the word fudge is used on packaging of cakes and brownies with "extra" chocolate flavoring or with fluid chocolate in the mixture.

The fudge centre was not like the sugary fudge we get here in the UK, but more of a moist chocolaty centre ... almost like a truffle filling but a tad more viscous. It had a silky smooth texture that melted delightfully in the mouth. It was not the most deliciously flavoured milk chocolate, but it still had a nice sweet milky appeal. Unfortunately I couldn't help but be slightly disappointed at the balance of the ingredients used for the filling. The popcorn was portioned at least double the amount of the peanuts and caramel. I'm not saying the popcorn was bad ... it was great and added a superb crunchy texture and slightly salty note; it was just a shame that the caramel and nut elements were equally as tasty, but just simply weren't as prominent. The caramel element was especially good; like all good caramel it had a nice sweet, buttery taste - absolutely fantastic. The bar had a wonderful array of textures, the fudge centre was luxuriously smooth and contrasted superbly with the gooey caramel and crunchiness from the popcorn and nuts. As you probably would have guessed this bar did a great job fulfilling my hunger, the aftertaste had a nice milky flavour to it - I definitely wasn't in need of a second.

Overall this was a bar like no other I had tried before, it certainly gets credit for its originality. The milk chocolate was better than average with it's sweet, milky and long lasting taste. I think I would have enjoyed this bar even more if the ingredients had been better portioned. As I referred to above, each part of the filling added individual qualities, which just made it an even greater shame that the portioning was slightly off. Definitely a bar worth checking out if you get the opportunity - the only reason why I would say avoid is if your watching the fat in your diet, or dislike any of the mentioned ingredients. Those people aside - for a truly innovative offering this is a pretty good bar.

8.0 out of 10

*** EU & UK Readers Attention*** Ever been been browsing Chocolate Mission or any other Candy Site and felt frustrated not being able to get hold of an American bar/item!??? .... well feel frustrated no more!!! 'I SHOP 4 YOU II'!! is a great service that provides a unique "one stop shop" international shopping experience!!! Visit the Ebay shop - if they dont have the item you want instock simply give them a message - there is no harm in asking. This service comes with a Chocolate Mission Seal of Approval!! It is a genuinely great, fast and friendly service... Just say you came from Chocolate Mission.

September 27th: Hershey's / Reese's Snacksters

Chocolate Mission takes a slight detour today, breakfast is supposedly the most important meal of the day ... personally I'm rather partial to a nice round of toast and an OJ. To be honest I'm not particularly big on my cereals, though I was intrigued by these Hershey's and Reese's 'Snacksters' when **I SHOP 4 You II** included them in my latest sampling package. Below are my mini reviews of them both:

Hershey's Snacksters

Kcal 100 Fat 3.5g Fat(sats) 2.0g Carbs 15.0g (per 21.0g serving)

The Hershey's variant included 'cereal puffs, semi-sweet & milk chocolate chips and chocolate chip cookies'. The packaging was pretty standard, the cereal came in a single serving foil packet - it looked OK aesthetically and did a nice job at keeping the product fresh. The cereal itself looked pretty appetising, the cookie pieces looked particularly nice and the chocolate chips were a nice size and relatively well portioned. I know it's not really that normal to smell cereal but I must comment on the slightly odd aroma of this product, It had a predominantly biscuity, malty smell though it had a tinge of old smelling milk ... it really wasn't that enticing.

The cereal tasted pretty good, the cereal puffs had a nice biscuity taste that was complimented every so often by a nice cocoa burst from the chocolate chips. The unsweetened chips were a welcome addition, I think the overall taste might have been overly sweet if they were all milk chocolate. The only disappointing aspect of this variant were the cookie pieces, they very quickly became soggy and tasteless when mixed with the milk.

7.0 out of 10

Reese's Snacksters
Kcal 100 Fat 4.0g Fat(sats) 2.5g Carbs 14.0g (per 21.0g serving)

The Reese's variant included 'cereal puffs, peanut butter chips, cereal squares and Reese's Pieces'. The product came in almost identically styled packaging, with just the obvious differences in branding. The yellow, brown and orange Reese's Pieces gave the cereal itself a colourful look, though the colourings did turn the milk a slightly off putting colour. The product had a nice smell in comparison to the Hershey's variant, it had a relatively pleasant bisuity smell with a slight nutty element.

In comparison to the Hershey's cereal, the taste was not quite as strong. It had the same nice wheaty/corn base flavour from the cereal puffs, and the peanut butter chips added a nice creamy nutty taste every odd bite; however I don't think Reese's Pieces were suited to the context of cereal. The sugary shells were simply not as crispy, and they just failed to release that strong peanut butter Reese's flavour that I was hoping for, it was more refined and subtle.

7.0 out of 10

Overall I have pretty mixed feelings about these cereals. They are indeed a bit gimmicky, I just don't feel that cereal was really the greatest place to compliment either the Hershey's chocolate or the Reese's peanut butter flavours. I wouldn't necessarily recommend swapping these for your traditional breakfast, they just really aren't anything that special. If you fancy something a little different for your breakfast though these could be a nice little change up; they are worth trying at least if your fans of the brands.

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September 27th: Ritter Sport Milk Whole Hazelnuts

Kcal 565 Fat 37.9g Fat(sats) 17.4g Carbs 46.9g (per 100g)

Chocolate Mission truly is a becoming a world wide phenomenon ... the latest supplier to kindly provide me with some of their regions greatest goods are Dean-German-Grocery - who stock quite possibly the largest number of Lindt, Milka, Storck and Ritter Sport etc goods I have ever seen - and the best thing!? Well they ship worldwide ... definitely worth checking out if you are after the more obscure varieties from those brands.

Today Dean-German-Grocery provided me with the 'Ritter Sport Milk Whole Hazelnuts'; as you probably gathered this was the milk chocolate version of one of the current 'top rated bars' the 'Ritter Sport White Whole Hazelnuts'.

The bar came in the standard 100g 5x5 blocked serving size that I ate over two sittings. Each provided a very substantial serving, and left me feeling wholly satisfied. The packaging was its usual high standard; the choice of colour of course highly appropriate and the bumpy hazelnut pattern was also a nice touch. The bar itself looked mightily impressive, the whole hazelnuts appeared well dispersed and neither affected the splitting of the bar nor the perfectly imprinted Ritter Sport logos. The bar also had a pretty pleasant smell, I couldn't detect the strongest of nutty aromas but it had a nice strong chocolaty fragrance that went some way to raising my already high anticipation.

Similar to the 'White Whole Hazelnuts' bar, I found that by far and away the best eating method was to let the chocolate of the blocks melt away leaving the whole hazelnuts to crunch on. The milk chocolate had a highly enjoyable smooth thick melt that lasted a near perfect amount of time in which to release it's flavors. The milk chocolate had a nice long taste, it was more cocoa intensive than it was milk based, it wasn't the best milk chocolate I have tasted; it didn't have a really unique taste to it like Dairy Milk, Galaxy or Hershey's (the latter probably more a good thing!!), it was more just a middle ground milk chocolate, though was still of a good quality. The hazelnuts were just as with the 'White Whole Hazelnuts', deliciously buttery in their taste with a long earthy woody aftertaste - very flavoursome and fantastically fresh tasting with a wonderful crunch.

Overall this was yet another winner from the Ritter Sport range. The milk chocolate was of a high standard, and the hazelnuts simply delicious; it was a combination that delivered a highly enjoyable and substantial product. The keener eyed will have noticed I rated this bar slightly below the 'White Whole Hazelnuts' - personally I felt that though the milk chocolate was of a high standard it didn't quite have the uniqueness in its overall flavour in comparison to the creaminess of the white chocolate. An absolutely delicious offering again from Ritter Sport, highly recommended.

8.7 out of 10

Fancy trying the Ritter Sport Milk Whole Hazelnuts for yourself!? Fancy any another Ritter Sport / Milka / Lindt / Storck or German Grocery ... head over to Dean-German-Grocery!!

September 26th: Milka & Daim Bar

**Updated** 09.04.2010

This bar is now available in a 45.0g impulse bar here in the UK - see my photo above!!

Kcal 530 Fat 30.0g Carbs 59.0g (per 100.0g)

Dean-German-Grocery recently sent me a near truckload of their latest and best selling German goodies in order for me to sample and review. Included in this package was this exciting Milka bar, a bar combining both Milka Alpine Milk chocolate and the ever popular Daim bar - two great individual products. Were they a perfect combination?

The bar came in the standard 100g Milka serving, as usual I ate this over two sittings - I felt like I could have eaten a little more each time but the servings were adequate enough. The bar came in the new plastic wrapper packaging, personally I liked the style of the wrapper, it had a nice bright glossy look, whilst also maintaining a nice freshness to the product - all in one recyclable layer ... good work Kraft! The bar had a pretty pleasant aroma; it had the typical dairy chocolaty Alpine Milk smell with just a little added sweet scent thrown into the mix.

When reviewing the Daim bar, I just couldn't quite get on with its lack of substantiality, I found the thinness of the bar very unappealing, the chocolate flaked and just wasn't impactful enough with it's flavours ... saying that I actually quite liked the caramel centre. This collaborative bar took all the problems of the Daim and threw them out the window! The Milka Alpine Milk chocolate provided a fantastic coating for the plentiful Daim pieces dispersed throughout the middle of the bar. The Alpine Milk provided a perfectly balanced smooth dairy taste that was impactful with its flavour, but not overly so that it dominated the Daim. The Daim pieces were very generously portioned and provided a fantastic contrastive crunch element against the smooth melting Alpine Milk. This was actually one of a few chocolates I enjoyed chewing, the Daim pieces literally exploded with their strong sweet caramel flavours that had a unique 'burnt' quality to their taste. The Daim element left a delicious long lasting taste in the mouth, it would have been nice for the milky chocolate flavour to have lasted longer but this has never been a strength of Milka chocolate.

Overall this is the best Milka bar I have tasted to date. This bar brought the best out of both individual elements; the Daim benefited greatily by being implemented in a bigger, more substantial milk chocolate coating, and the Milka Alpine Milk benefitted from having another dimension to it's overall flavour. It's not completely without it's faults the bar could possibly benefit with a slight refinement in it's cocoa levels ... Alpine Milk is indeed very milky and could be a little bland for some palettes. That aside, this is a bar that proves that 2 + 2 = 5 is definitely possible.

8.5 out of 10

Want to try the Milka & Daim bar for yourself!? Head to Dean-German-Grocery for all your German Grocery & Candy needs!!